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War in Afghanistan
War in Afghanistan is different. For one thing, Afghans
don't have all the gear and gadgets American troops have. Afghans do have strong
legs, stamina, knowledge of the ground and an ability to do a lot with a little.
Afghans only attack when they are pretty sure they can win. They have an
information advantage, as they can get information from the locals. Their
stamina allows them to trudge over the hills in small groups to scout the enemy.
What the enemy troops do, how they do it and when they operate are all carefully
examined. The Afghans figure out when the enemy troops are most vulnerable and
that's when they strike. If the Afghan's are outnumbered and outgunned, as they
usually are, they will resort to ambush. Afghan fighters operate either
in small groups (a few men to a few dozen) moving cross country, or large
columns (in trucks and armored vehicles) on roads. The small groups are more
common when fighting foreigners, as the truck columns are vulnerable to enemy
air power. The small groups travel light, carrying no more than twenty pounds a
man (weapon, ammunition, some bread and water.) At night they sleep in caves or
in the open. If the Afghans themselves are not familiar with the ground they are
moving across, they have someone with them that does. Only very fit American
troops could keep up with these Afghans, and US troops generally carry over 60
pounds of gear into battle. No Western troops hauling that much stuff can keep
up with Afghans when traveling cross country. Since the Russians invaded
in 1979, Afghans have obtained a lot of new equipment. The most useful items
have been all manner of two way radios (and satellite cell phones). These range
from long range stuff that allows for communications hundreds of miles distant,
to the hand held jobs that have a range of only a mile or so. These are used to
coordinate attacks. Afghans have learned to use their radios carefully when
operating against a better equipped foe (like the Russians) that can jam their
radios, and listen in on them. Afghan fighters also have a lot of trucks, plus
some tanks, artillery and other stuff that can only be used on the few roads
available. They have some helicopters and a few jet fighters and
bombers. The Taliban tried to disarm the country in the late 1990s, with
mixed success. A lot of men still have a rifle and some ammunition available.
The Taliban have about 50,000 men on duty now, and can call up over a hundred
thousand more. But many of these might be of questionable reliability. The core
of the Taliban force is nearly 10,000 fighters provided by bin Laden's
organization. What makes fighting in Afghanistan so difficult is that you
cannot fight and win a few battles and let that be the end of it. Small groups
of Afghans will continue to ambush your patrols and truck convoys. You can
quickly get the Afghans big stuff (trucks, tanks, aircraft), but you will always
have a rough time rooting out small groups of fighters in the hills. Threatening
the local civilians often doesn't work, because the guys shooting at you from up
there are from another tribe. That said, small groups of armed Afghans
marching around in the highlands are not going to expel any invading armies. The
lads up there have to eat (a few pounds of bread and such per man per day) and
they don't carry much ammunition (maybe a hundred rounds per man). Afghan
fighters will often bury additional supplies of food and ammunition throughout
an area they will be operating in. But this takes time, and if you hit them
unexpectedly, using helicopters and commandoes, you'll be facing Afghans
constantly short of food and ammo. What made the 1980s Russian war in
Afghanistan so frustrating was the Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan and Iran.
The camps in Pakistan also contained supply bases for the fighters, including
hospitals for the sick and wounded. That kind of sanctuary is not available this
time, although the refugee camps are still in Pakistan. Those camps have become
an extension of Afghanistan and the Pakistanis would like to get them out.
Forcing the refugees out is not a viable option, it will require peace and a
measure of prosperity in Afghanistan to empty the camps. Afghan fighters have
learned that the best place to hide is among women and children, and refugee
camps provide that just as well as do villages in Afghanistan. Fighting
Afghans means going against thousands of small (6-60 men) units. The Afghans
will snipe at you and ambush your supply trucks and patrols. You can eventually
defeat these Afghans, especially with the use of night vision gear, radio
interception equipment and helicopters. The winters are brutal, but they are
harder on Afghan fighters than they are on better equipped troops. Even the
Russians demonstrated that their own commandoes were able to beat the Afghans at
their own game up in the hills. But wars in Afghanistan are not won or
lost in the hills, but along the roads and valleys where most of the people
live. Everyone has a hard time surviving up in the hills, and bin Laden (and his
several hundred body guards) won't last long up there without a large stockpile
of food and a willingness to stay silent for a long time. You don't fight up in
the hills unless you have to. You don't fight anywhere in Afghanistan unless you
have to. And it appears that America's battle plan is to fight as little as
possible in Afghanistan. Get the terrorists and their camps, and get out. Money
has always been a powerful weapon in Afghanistan, and that appears to be in the
American arsenal as well. It's a strange war in Afghanistan, and it always has
been.
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